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Psychological Problems Derived from Mastectomy: A Qualitative Study

Advances in treatment of breast cancer have not avoided using mastectomy in all cases, and when this happens, we are dealing with a woman who is suffering from psychological problems. In order to study this issue we have carried out a research with the collaboration of The Andalusian Association of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Arroyo, José Manuel García, López, María Luisa Domínguez
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265278/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22312492
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/132461
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author Arroyo, José Manuel García
López, María Luisa Domínguez
author_facet Arroyo, José Manuel García
López, María Luisa Domínguez
author_sort Arroyo, José Manuel García
collection PubMed
description Advances in treatment of breast cancer have not avoided using mastectomy in all cases, and when this happens, we are dealing with a woman who is suffering from psychological problems. In order to study this issue we have carried out a research with the collaboration of The Andalusian Association of Women with Mastectomies (AMAMA) in Seville, which provided us with a sample of 46 mastectomized women. The objective of this study is to analyze in depth the psychological reaction of women to mastectomy through its different stages from diagnosis to surgical treatment. We chose a cualitative method so as to explore the subjective components of psicologycal respons. As a result, we found in studied women: (a) The “fracture” of the “corporal imaginary” related to the disappearance of a valuable organ, linked to the feeling of loss of personal attractiveness, low self-esteem and avoidance of social relationships. (b) The problem with “femininity” has been linked to the issue of “desirability”, something innate in the “feminine position”. (c) Many of them keep in mind the idea of mutilation, as a “hole” which is impossible to integrate. (d) Finally, we demonstrate how certain features of personality made them especially vulnerable to the explained phenomena.
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spelling pubmed-32652782012-02-06 Psychological Problems Derived from Mastectomy: A Qualitative Study Arroyo, José Manuel García López, María Luisa Domínguez Int J Surg Oncol Research Article Advances in treatment of breast cancer have not avoided using mastectomy in all cases, and when this happens, we are dealing with a woman who is suffering from psychological problems. In order to study this issue we have carried out a research with the collaboration of The Andalusian Association of Women with Mastectomies (AMAMA) in Seville, which provided us with a sample of 46 mastectomized women. The objective of this study is to analyze in depth the psychological reaction of women to mastectomy through its different stages from diagnosis to surgical treatment. We chose a cualitative method so as to explore the subjective components of psicologycal respons. As a result, we found in studied women: (a) The “fracture” of the “corporal imaginary” related to the disappearance of a valuable organ, linked to the feeling of loss of personal attractiveness, low self-esteem and avoidance of social relationships. (b) The problem with “femininity” has been linked to the issue of “desirability”, something innate in the “feminine position”. (c) Many of them keep in mind the idea of mutilation, as a “hole” which is impossible to integrate. (d) Finally, we demonstrate how certain features of personality made them especially vulnerable to the explained phenomena. Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2011 2011-06-04 /pmc/articles/PMC3265278/ /pubmed/22312492 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/132461 Text en Copyright © 2011 J. M. G. Arroyo and M. L. D. López. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Arroyo, José Manuel García
López, María Luisa Domínguez
Psychological Problems Derived from Mastectomy: A Qualitative Study
title Psychological Problems Derived from Mastectomy: A Qualitative Study
title_full Psychological Problems Derived from Mastectomy: A Qualitative Study
title_fullStr Psychological Problems Derived from Mastectomy: A Qualitative Study
title_full_unstemmed Psychological Problems Derived from Mastectomy: A Qualitative Study
title_short Psychological Problems Derived from Mastectomy: A Qualitative Study
title_sort psychological problems derived from mastectomy: a qualitative study
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265278/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22312492
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/132461
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